Group gives cupcakes (and emotional support) to local strippers

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PORTLAND, Ore. - A non-profit group called The Cupcake Girls brings boxes of cupcakes to strip clubs in Portland each month to build a connection with women in the adult industry and offer what they call "non-judgmental support."

"Our goal is that women who doubt themselves become empowered in their daily lives," explained founder Joy Hoover at a TEDx talk.

Hoover said they help women in many ways, giving them someone to talk to, helping them out of a domestic violence situation, taking them to a doctor or to rehab and more.

Hoover started in Las Vegas, and now the Cupcake Girls volunteer in Portland as well.

The group's website reads, "Everyone needs love and support and the occasional cupcake."

Hoover said women working in the adult industry sometimes feel like criminals or outcasts of society. But she said they are valuable people who deserve to be loved.

"They are some of the most tenacious, courageous, kind-hearted women I have ever met and I am inspired by them daily," said Hoover.